Seconds fill void for hungry Tiger
17 April 2003 Herald Sun
By BRUCE MATTHEWS
A VFL seconds game at a near deserted Coburg on Saturday wouldn't be the third choice for any self-respecting senior Richmond player.
But Ben Holland admits to being as eager as a first-gamer to start his football second chance.
Holland, 25, last night didn't even know the venue and time for the resumption of his interrupted career at the weekend. All he wants is the chance to chase a kick for the first time in 12 months.
"I wouldn't care if I was playing A28s in some amateur league as long as I was out there getting a kick and doing all those footy things again. It will just be good to get a run around somewhere," the 198cm Tiger said after training at Punt Rd.
"It's just a matter of getting the mind ticking over of how to play again, where to run and what to do."
With Richmond's VFL affiliate Coburg on a bye this round, Holland and senior list colleagues Marc Dragicevic, Andrew Krakouer and Adam Pickering will play with the seconds team against Springvale at 2pm.
It's almost a year to the day since Holland tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Fremantle in Perth in Round 4 last season.
He has endured the setbacks of an infection after the knee reconstruction and an arthroscope in early December to tidy up scar tissue.
"The last month has been really long watching the boys playing. I've done all the hard work and I'm sick of not doing anything at the weekend. Thankfully, that's now behind me," he said.
With his height and ability, Holland will be valuable to play forward or back as another tall option once he overcomes the mental scars of trusting the knee.
He has dismissed the brace option, content that the knee is strong enough after contesting work against former St Kilda skipper Stewart Loewe, now one of Danny Frawley's assistant coaches.
"I've been feeling pretty good, but I just wanted to do three hard weeks of training, getting a lot of kilometres in the legs and bumping and tackling with Stewie. If you can move him around, you can move most people around and it gives you confidence," Holland said.
"I haven't even spoken about it (brace) with the medicos. If you're confident the knee is right, you wouldn't want to wear anything.
"That's what the next couple of weeks are about, going for a few marks, crashing into a few packs and realising you can do it all again."
Tigers selection committee member Greg Hutchison said last night the club would resist the temptation to rush back the valuable Holland.
"He has done a lot of work in the last six weeks, but he's still a long way off. He would need to play three or four weeks in the VFL before he would be considered for AFL football," Hutchison said.
Forward Matthew Richardson trained strongly last night, although it was difficult to gauge his chances of playing against St Kilda on Monday until the Tigers engage in contesting work later this week.
Hutchison didn't rule out Richardson wearing a protective shield on the fractured right cheekbone that forced him out last round.
Loewe has become an important Tiger this week for far more than his training work as he dissects his former Saints teammates.
"You try to cover every possible angle that you can. I'm sure Danny would have been picking his brains fairly solidly already," Hutchison said.
17 April 2003 Herald Sun
By BRUCE MATTHEWS
A VFL seconds game at a near deserted Coburg on Saturday wouldn't be the third choice for any self-respecting senior Richmond player.
But Ben Holland admits to being as eager as a first-gamer to start his football second chance.
Holland, 25, last night didn't even know the venue and time for the resumption of his interrupted career at the weekend. All he wants is the chance to chase a kick for the first time in 12 months.
"I wouldn't care if I was playing A28s in some amateur league as long as I was out there getting a kick and doing all those footy things again. It will just be good to get a run around somewhere," the 198cm Tiger said after training at Punt Rd.
"It's just a matter of getting the mind ticking over of how to play again, where to run and what to do."
With Richmond's VFL affiliate Coburg on a bye this round, Holland and senior list colleagues Marc Dragicevic, Andrew Krakouer and Adam Pickering will play with the seconds team against Springvale at 2pm.
It's almost a year to the day since Holland tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Fremantle in Perth in Round 4 last season.
He has endured the setbacks of an infection after the knee reconstruction and an arthroscope in early December to tidy up scar tissue.
"The last month has been really long watching the boys playing. I've done all the hard work and I'm sick of not doing anything at the weekend. Thankfully, that's now behind me," he said.
With his height and ability, Holland will be valuable to play forward or back as another tall option once he overcomes the mental scars of trusting the knee.
He has dismissed the brace option, content that the knee is strong enough after contesting work against former St Kilda skipper Stewart Loewe, now one of Danny Frawley's assistant coaches.
"I've been feeling pretty good, but I just wanted to do three hard weeks of training, getting a lot of kilometres in the legs and bumping and tackling with Stewie. If you can move him around, you can move most people around and it gives you confidence," Holland said.
"I haven't even spoken about it (brace) with the medicos. If you're confident the knee is right, you wouldn't want to wear anything.
"That's what the next couple of weeks are about, going for a few marks, crashing into a few packs and realising you can do it all again."
Tigers selection committee member Greg Hutchison said last night the club would resist the temptation to rush back the valuable Holland.
"He has done a lot of work in the last six weeks, but he's still a long way off. He would need to play three or four weeks in the VFL before he would be considered for AFL football," Hutchison said.
Forward Matthew Richardson trained strongly last night, although it was difficult to gauge his chances of playing against St Kilda on Monday until the Tigers engage in contesting work later this week.
Hutchison didn't rule out Richardson wearing a protective shield on the fractured right cheekbone that forced him out last round.
Loewe has become an important Tiger this week for far more than his training work as he dissects his former Saints teammates.
"You try to cover every possible angle that you can. I'm sure Danny would have been picking his brains fairly solidly already," Hutchison said.
